Author: jmstine

The Horror Classic that Terrified H. P. Lovecraft!

Here is how Lovecraft described this masterpiece of supernatural horror:

"The King in Yellow, achieves notable heights of cosmic fear … It is a series of connected short stories having as a background a monstrous and suppressed book whose perusal brings fright, madness, and spectral tragedy. The most powerful of its tales, perhaps, is 'The Yellow Sign', in which is introduced a silent and terrible churchyard watchman with a face like a puffy grave-worm's. A boy, describing a tussle he has had with this creature, shivers and sickens as he relates a certain detail. 'Well, it's Gawd's truth that when I 'it 'im 'e grabbed me wrists, Sir, and when I twisted 'is soft, mushy fist one of 'is fingers come off in me 'and.'

"An artist, who after seeing him has shared with another a strange dream of a nocturnal hearse, is shocked by the voice with which the watchman accosts him. The fellow emits a muttering sound that fills the head 'like thick oily smoke from a fat-rendering vat or an odour of noisome decay.' What he mumbles is merely this: 'Have you found the Yellow Sign?'

"A weirdly hieroglyphed onyx talisman, picked up on the street by the sharer of his dream, is shortly given the artist; and after stumbling queerly upon the hellish and forbidden book of horrors the two learn, among other hideous things which no sane mortal should know, that this talisman is indeed the nameless Yellow Sign handed down from the accursed cult of Hastur—from primordial Carcosa, whereof the volume treats, and some nightmare memory of which seeks to lurk latent and ominous at the back of all men's minds. Soon they hear the rumbling of the black-plumed hearse driven by the flabby and corpse-faced watchman. He enters the night-shrouded house in quest of the Yellow Sign, all bolts and bars rotting at his touch."

Discover for yourself why Lovecraft, Bloch, Leiber, King and other horror masters were influenced by, and rave over, The King in Yellow. But don’t turn down the lights!

"The Finest Spectral Literature of This or Any Age!"

That's how horror maestro H. P. Lovecraft praised the work of Algernon Blackwood (1869-1950). Himself one of the founders of the modern fantasy/horror story, Algernon Blackwood's John Silence, Psychic Investigator is his most famous single work.

In this collection of linked stories, John Silence, a physician who has studied the occult and metaphysical, acts as a psychic Sherlock Holmes. When people have disturbing encounters with extradimensional beings, persecuting ghosts, or ancestral curses, John Silence brings his extraordinary knowledge and powers to bear on their difficulties.

As Lovecraft wrote, John Silence, "contains some of the author's best work. The opening tale, 'A Psychical Invasion,' relates what befell a sensitive author in a house once the scene of dark deeds, and how a legion of fiends was exorcised. 'Ancient Sorceries', perhaps the finest tale in the book, gives an almost hypnotically vivid account of an old French town where once the unholy Sabbath was kept by all the people in the form of cats. In 'The Nemesis of Fire' a hideous elemental is evoked by new-spilt blood, whilst 'Secret Worship' tells of a German school where Satanism held sway, and where long afterward an evil aura remained. 'The Camp of the Dog' is a werewolf tale. Of the quality of Mr. Blackwood's genius there can be no dispute; for no one has even approached the skill, seriousness, and minute fidelity with which he records the overtones of strangeness in ordinary things and experiences, or the preternatural insight with which he builds up detail by detail the complete sensations and perceptions leading from reality into supernormal life or vision."

A must-read for any devotee of fantasy or horror.

Cover: Elspeth Fahey.

These are the thrill-a-minute stories the writers of the original movie, "The Mummy" with Boris Karloff, and its many sequels and remakes, used for research.

In these stories, fans of canonical mummy films will find the origins of these familiar scenes: the sacred formula for eternal life is secreted in the base of a statue of Isis; the mummies are brought back to life by burning a rare Egyptian herb; a modern woman, who is the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian princess, begins to turn into a mummy herself; mummies can only be truly destroyed by fire—and many others.

Your blood will run cold at such exciting tales as "In the Valley of the Sorceress" by Sax Rohmer; "The Mummy's Foot" by Theophile Gautier; "The Nameless Mummy" by Arlton Eadie; "The Mummy of Thompson-Pratt" by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne; "Monkeys" by E. F. Benson, and two unabridged short novels, "Lot No. 249" by Arthur Conan Doyle and "The Curse of Amen-Ra" by Victor Rousseau.

This anthology is a must-read for everyone who has ever loved their mummy. In addition, readers will find a list of mummy movies for recommended viewing, and an introduction by editor Jean Marie Stine, whose other anthologies include Future Eves: Great Science Fiction About Women by Women and I Vampire: Spine-Tingling Interviews with the Undead.

Before the Venusians Could Conquer the Solar System, They First Needed to Kidnap Earth Women for Their Slave Pens!

Blood-and-thunder science fiction from the glory days of the pulp magazines. "A blue Mercurian, arrogance in every line of his shell-covered body, was leading a white Earth-girl up the street. The Earth-girl was practically naked. She walked with head bent, shoulders drooping—a creature without hope. The rope around her slender waist, by which the Mercurian hauled her along, had raised a cruel, circular abrasion on her otherwise smooth brown skin."

Ron Kratnick, agent for Earth Intelligence, had been told he would have to endure scenes like this without a blink if he was to go undercover and help smash Darrien, the alien Hitler who dreamed of ruling the nine worlds. And to recruit an army, Darrien had made his troops a devilish promise. For he had discovered the one thing which would make the solar system's dregs fight like tigers possessed—the promise of Earth-women as their own property, to be used as they saw fit.

Stopping Darrien seemed like a hopeless task to Kratnick, until he found himself allied with a brainy Earthwoman captive and a mysterious man whose motives were far from clear. Then Ron Kratnick knew he had a chance—if neither of his newfound allies betrayed him!

The Three Novels that Created Space Opera!

First, set off on the first science fiction voyage outside our solar system with Richard Seaton, as he attempts to rescue both his captured fiancee and his unique spherical spaceship The Skylark, after a rogue scientist absconds with them in The Skylark of Space. Enemies are forced to become allies when everyone becomes lost in an unfamiliar region of the galaxy and must fight their way back through primitive planets and against alien fleets. As always with Smith, romance and action are equally mixed.

Then, in Skylark Three, Seaton is forced into action to stop a menace that threatens every civilized planet in the galaxy—but to do it he must create the greatest starship ever conceived.

Finally, read Triplanetary, the story that helped launch the Lensmen series. A brainy man and heroic woman fight against ruthless space pirates for life and love.

And don't miss The Second E. E. 'Doc' Smith Omnibus, which includes The Galaxy Primes; The Robot Nemesis & Other Stories; and Spacehounds of I.P.C.! Find it in the "related products" tab.

Never-Reprinted Humorous Pulp Fantasy Novel!

When you enter the forest of Drendon, and your girlfriend turns into a wood nymph, and her brother becomes a fawn, and the dreadful parrot-beaked, cannibalistic Kwistian birds come to feast, don't waste precious time asking what's going on—it's magic, you dope!

Delightful Classic from the legendary 1950s Fantastic Stories!

Cover: Kaolin Fire

A Triple Ozzy Treat! Oz books 7, 8 & 9 in one unabridged volume.

Ojo's uncle is held captive by a wicked witch, but with the help of old friends and the Patchwork Girl of Oz, he is restored and evil conquered. The Emerald land is invaded by Nomes and defended by the Queen of Oogaboo's army in Tik-Toc of Oz. When Button-Bright finds himself in trouble, he thinks all is lost—until he meets a man whose head is stuffed with straw.

Three delightful, enchanting, magical visits to Oz. Get your ticket now!

Three Times the Magic Equals Three Times the Fun!

All three of Edith Nesbit's delightful "Five Children" fantasies are gathered together here in one convenient eBook.

In each, five children (Robert, Anthea, Jane, Cyril, and "the baby") stumble on something magical, "resulting inevitably in a totally delightful chaos," according to the Reader's Guide to Fantasy. "The children are wonderfully real—given a magic carpet, their inventive mischief with such an object is awe-inspiring...Nesbit's magic is most original, hinting at great wonder and strangeness," the Reader's Guide continues.

The Guide also calls the Five Children Trilogy Nesbit's "best work." You will see why when you read about the Five Children's discovery of an amulet in the form of a horseshoe that grows until it becomes a gateway to the past and future—and the unintended affect their newfound magic ring has on the maid! Here is a long-recognized classic that mixes fantasy and humor. Nesbit's world will enthrall, enchant and delight you all at once.

The Second Three Oz Books Complete and Unabridged!

An earthquake swallows the Wizard. Dorothy becomes a princess. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry move to Oz. The Nome King tunnels under the Deadly Desert to attack Oz. Ozma refuses to fight for her kingdom. And many other wondrous, suspenseful events ensue in books 4-6 of L. Frank Baum's immortal Oz series. What more do you need to know?